Drawing from Raphael Lemkin's work and our in-class discussion on the "techniques of genocide involving a coordinated attack on elements of nationhood," discuss how vulnerable populations in Kuwait may experience a process reflective of being "primed" to become targets of violence. Consider the following elements: political, social, cultural, economic, biological, physical, religious, moral.
What lessons do we learn from the Rwanda genocide and other cases of political violence discussed in class? How would you apply those lessons to preventing conflicts and violence from erupting in Kuwait?
There are several markers that showcase that non-Arab expats (especially Indian and Filipino domestic workers) are being primed for genocide. Before discussing how they are being primed, it is important to clarify two main points.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, a lot of the indicators for each category that Raphael Lemkin discusses in his text can’t always be applied to Kuwait when the context is taken into consideration. To illustrate, Lemkin talks about how an example of cultural genocide is banning the victims from utilizing their own language at school. This example can’t be applied to Kuwait. At face value, it's true. Kuwait does not have schools that have Indian or Filipino as the core language. But Kuwait is an Arab country and it never banned these languages since it was never used in the first place to BE banned. Germany, most of the time, is referred to as “the occupant” but Kuwait is a country most non-Arab expats voluntarily migrate to. Kuwait did not occupy India or the Philippines. These differences in context mean that there is a lack of parallels to draw from between Lemkin's examples of genocidal priming and the priming happening in Kuwait.
Secondly, Lemkin also talks about how the degree and extent of these primes are important. For non-Arab domestic workers, most of the primes that will be discussed are not prevalent, intense or extreme. They are very subtle most of the time. Therefore, in my opinion, the priming of non-Arab expats need not be rendered as a “hot” case. Most of the examples for each category are not outright, full scale, outrageous atrocities being committed on a daily basis that can be applied to every single non-Arab domestic worker in the country.
With that being said, one could argue that there are in fact several ways in which non-Arab domestic workers are being primed politically. There are barely any concrete laws designed to protect domestic workers in Kuwait. Laws regarding Kuwaiti labor don’t apply to them and the laws that ARE there are weak and not reinforced. A lot of them are forced to work for long periods of time, some are locked, aren’t given reasonable pay and are not allowed to visit family members in their home countries. This is due to the weak enforcement of laws that were never concrete or set in stone in the first place. It’s because of this that the perpetrators of these injustices are not always held accountable for their actions too. A lot of the time, there is a violation of their basic human rights. They are not represented much in Kuwaiti politics. A lot of injustices that are happening to them are not being talked about.
For social priming, Lemkin talks about the destruction of national patterns by the occupant. However, this does not really apply to Kuwait. The national pattern of the non-Arab populations in Kuwait can’t ever become a “pattern” tangible enough to be destroyed in the first place since they are living in Kuwait instead of their own countries; whereby a true “national pattern” would thrive. Even so, Kuwait doesn’t really make any attempts to make Indians feel “less Indian”. Intelligentsia are not targeted and no one is forced to be deported. Lemkin talks about the imposition of “German” law as a form of social priming. Perhaps one point that can be applicable to social priming is the lack of imposition of Kuwaiti law on Indians. Ironically enough, it’s not that Kuwaiti law is imposed on Indians and Filipinos that would constitute as social priming, rather it’s the opposite. It’s how Kuwaiti law does not apply to them. In fact, imposing Kuwaiti law on Indians and Filipinos would mean that everyone is treated equally. Another point to consider is how a lot of non-Arab domestic workers are profiled for simply being a non-Arab domestic worker. This is one of the recurring, strong indicators of social priming.
As for cultural priming, using Indian or Filipino to communicate is not banned per se, but a lot of these workers are put in uncomfortable situations where they are forced to use Arabic to be understood (even if they can't speak it themselves). There is no effort made to accommodate them and no solutions that are being sought to fix the language barrier. Taking into consideration the number of people in Kuwait that are foreigners, no effort is being put into making sure they are understood. Granted, Kuwait is an Arab country but then again, most of the people living in it are not Arabs. There are also usually never any Indians or Filipinos available in governmental sectors to be able to translate for them. Therefore, one could argue that a form of cultural priming is neglecting the importance of finding a middle ground and helping non-Arab domestic workers at least understand what is being said to them. The fact that they do not understand Arabic is not seen as a pressing issue; and that in itself is problematic as it emphasizes the notion that they are “inferior” and not worthy of putting in the effort to accommodate them.
ReplyDeleteAnother form of cultural priming, one could argue, is that yes, they are allowed to have their own culture but they aren’t really given the space, comfort, opportunity or ability to display and spread it. It’s not rendered impossible to display and spread their culture, that’s a bit extreme, but it’s definitely not something they can do comfortably. I think it’s a very subtle, implicit, unspoken rule, but it’s there. Indian and Filipino art that is fully inspired by Indian and Filipino culture is a rarity. There aren’t really any Indian plays or Filipino plays. They are, unfortunately, depicted as people who do “inferior” jobs and are not capable of creating art or anything of substance. The non-Arab population in Kuwait is “deprived of inspiration from existing cultural and artistic values" related to their own culture. Again, it’s subtle and not really an outright ban. There is also the Segregation of “Kuwaiti” and “non Kuwaiti” in a lot of the governmental sectors. This makes it all the more easier to label non-Arab domestic workers are the “inferior other”, even if that’s not the purpose, intention or reasoning behind segregating the two groups.
Economically, they have a much lower standard of living than Kuwaitis. In this case, I am referring to non-Arab expats working in the same field or sector as their Kuwaiti colleagues. Most of the time, they are being paid significantly less. Furthermore, they can participate in the same economic life as Kuwaitis, but just because they can doesn't mean it's an easy, smooth process. A lot of Indians and Filipinos need to go through a myriad of barriers and laws and obstacles to enter that same economic sphere that Kuwaitis can enter with ease.
DeleteIn my opinion, biological and religious priming are not evident in Kuwait. There aren’t really any attempts to intentionally decrease birth rate or severely starve the workers and I would argue that there aren't any strict restrictions on religious freedom, not that I know of at least. There is a general atmosphere of moral debasement towards non-Arab expats, but it’s not so extreme as to classify it as a form of genocidal priming.
As for physical priming, there aren’t any mass killings or racial discrimination in feeding. However, perhaps the fact that a lot of these workers are put in inhumane working conditions simply for being a non-Arab domestic worker could be seen as a form of priming them physically. A lot of these workers stay in the sun for hours upon hours and do unappealing dangerous tasks.
The priming of non-Arabs is nowhere near the extent in which Jews were being primed in Germany, as Lemkin explained. However, it could very much so be argued that the priming is there, even if it is sometimes subtle and not extreme and the priming is of low intensity and vigor. It would actually be a severe error to generalize and exaggerate the examples given above and claim that it applies to everyone in Kuwait and that every worker is treated inhumanely and that every employer is unjust.
ID: S00045045
Raphael Lemkin’s discussion on Genocide refers to the destruction of a nation or ethnic group. My discussion will be altered according to my choice of oppressor, the Islamic Brotherhood. The oppressed would be those not a part of this cult (specifically Kuwaiti’s). The Brotherhood have primed the population for genocide after the country’s liberation from Iraq, through the Arab Spring, and to this day. Although their power is beginning to loosen from the Parliament and Ministries, their influences are still rooted in the country.
ReplyDeleteThe Islamic group constitutes the majority of the parliament, therefore, they have a great deal of power over laws and legal matters. They do not like non-Brother Kuwaiti’s and often do not pass laws to protect or benefit them. They also attack institutions that don’t have Brothers in them like the Ministry of Health. They even targeted a female Shiite liberal, Dr. Masooma Al-Mubarak, when given the position of Secretary of Health.This portrays the attempt to destruct national development and social structure by implementing fear into society.
Culturally, members are allowed to teach in public and some private schools because their Brothers are the head of the Ministry of Education. They teach according to their cult’s ideologies in the schools. They are the eyes and ears of the Brotherhood. Their students are often drawn into the cult and join them to become part of their plan to “take over the country”. This is in many ways similar to Germany’s plan to prepare the Polish youth for labor and work in German industries. Comparatively, the control of cultural activities also took place in Kuwait. The Brotherhood banned music classes in some schools and prohibited public musical performances. They have gradually primed the population to follow their orders which gives them the power to make decisions that the “minority” non-member Kuwaiti’s can’t. Economically, the Brothers work in almost all the Ministries to distribute the country’s wealth amongst themselves. They also stop businesses in government sectors, new businesses, and new projects from being approved to halt Kuwait’s development and control the money. This definitely brings a crippling economy and retrogression, making it difficult to establish new and innovative projects for the country to catch up in its development. The biological aspect of Lemkin’s discussion would not be applicable to this situation. However, if the Ministry of Health allowed a Brother into their department, they would use the budget for themselves, resulting in the decline of health and increase in deaths. This is because there wouldn’t be enough money to upgrade hospitals, provide free healthcare, purchase medical tools, and to buy medicine. Lemkin’s physical aspect of the discussion could be altered to fit into the Brotherhood’s priming of our population. The lack of food monitoring in Kuwait is due to the lack of supervision and care from the Municipality Brothers. As a result, some restaurants or grocery stores will serve expired meat or other animal meats. This type of poisoning will cause serious health issues and deaths, similar to the endangerment of health issued by the Germans. Religiously, the Brotherhood will brainwash the youth to listen to their cult leader instead of their parents or the Amir of Kuwait when orders are given. This disrupts the national, moral, and religious enculturation that the kids have already developed and creates a new mindset for their thinking. To weaken the moral debasement of Kuwaitis, drugs are “allowed” to enter the country because of the Brothers at the Ministry of Finance Customs Department who have permitted this. I believe it is to divert the population from moral and national thinking as well as creating conflicts and divisions in the country.
Consequently, I believe that the Brotherhood’s priming of non-Brother Kuwaitis is successful (although not extreme) because they have destroyed some national patterns of Kuwait and imposed patterns to fulfill their goals.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteS00046211
ReplyDeleteBased on Raphael Lemkin’s process of priming I believe the Shia’a population in Kuwait is the most vulnerable minority to genocide. As stated in my previous answer I believe if a genocide was to occur in Kuwait, with its current government, it would have to be at the pressure of surrounding nations rather than something carried out solely by the Kuwaiti government. Which is why the examples I will provide will not be as extreme as the ones Lemkin uses when applying his ideas to the Holocaust.
Politically and culturally the Shia’a population could be signaled out as enemies of the state due to their perceived association with Iran and Iraq, both countries who are on bad relations with Kuwait. Claims of betrayal and treason would be easy to make and their murder labeled as protection of the state and its occupants. There is already a lot of religious background to base this on, and bloody conflicts between Sunni’s and Shia’a have occurred before. This idea of conspiring against the state and being unwilling to follow its rules could be prompted by the differences and divides Shia’a and Sunni mosques have. As Sunni mosques follow the teaching of the state, the land they are built on belongs or is donated by the state. It hires the people working in the mosque and pays their wages, as well as having input on the weekly sermons. This is different to Shia’a mosques, which are built and funded by individuals who have to buy their own land, they are considered private religious institutes and not a representation of the country’s religion. As their land and wages are not funded by the state, a process of othering is already in place. This can also be seen in the way Islamic schools’ function, Sunni schools are funded by the state as they follow its teachings and so are public institutions while Shia’a Islamic schools have to be private institutions that are built by individuals or benefactors. A clear divide as to which is the country’s religion, and which is not. These are all subtle elements that already exist but if a genocide was to occur then the Shia’a population would be banned from building their own mosques moving forward and the ones that already exist demolished.
Socially, Shi’a courts would be removed, and the state would not allow them to practice their teachings. They would be forced to follow the majority Sunni court even on things that could go against their beliefs. This would undermine their ability to form community ties and follow their religion correctly, as well as be a clear sign that the state does not plan on allowing them religious freedoms. This could also be implemented on places the Shia’a population congregates, other than religious buildings, such as diwaniyas and other places of social gatherings. These areas could be shut down and monitored, with people being prosecuted If they frequent them. Economically there are currently no law that undermine the Shia’a population from being hired at certain places and starting their own businesses, unlike other countries in the region, but there is discrimination from individuals. Employers could be inclined to not hire people whose name they feel comes from Shia’a origins, so even if there are no laws that discriminate concerning their job opportunities there are also no laws that clearly protects them from discrimination.
I would say that there is currently no sign of the biological and physical factors Lemkin discusses being implemented, or even signs to elude to it happening in the near future. This also applies to the moral factor as there would be no way to ‘corrupt them morally’ without specifically going against Sunni Islamic teachings as well.
Priming a population is the first phase of preparing a specific nation to an upcoming act of violence. This can be genocide, massacre or any other violation. In simple words, priming means isolating and killing a nation gradually. Usually what most of the time perpetrators do is that they kill a specific ethnicity gradually by priming their identity before killing them physically which is basically killing them psychologically. The most significant way of priming a population is the social priming. In this case, discrimination plays a huge role. Inequality dominates and people start to feel that they are unwanted and unequal in the community or the state and constantly have the fear from being isolated, or massacred.
ReplyDeleteBeing primed means not having the same privileges as the others in the community. For example, politically, they will not be able to vote for elections or even discuss a sensitive political topic. Culturally, means not to allow a specific ethnicity to practice their culture by organizing events; in other words, restricting and prohibiting the ethnic group from practicing their cultures and traditions. Economically, most of the time before genocides take place imposing higher taxes is the usual phenomenon on a specific ethnic group in order to give that group a hard time and make them feel that they are different and unwanted. Biologically, stopping a specific nation from growing in biological ways is the most common. And, religiously, preventing them from practicing their religion and forcing them to convert by using the most horrible means to do so. I left, physical and moral priming to the last part because most of the time after psychologically affecting on the group that is being primed, physical and moral priming takes place. Either they separate people from each other or kill them in front of their beloved ones. But here is the big question “Is priming a population has morality?” Basically, the answer is no because genocide by itself is an immoral act against a nation no matter who that nation is.
If we apply the above mentions to our case which is priming expats in specific Palestinians in Kuwait and Bedoons it will be way different from other previous genocidal cases for many reasons. First, in the case of Palestinians, although they are expats but at the end of the day, they are Arabs which means they share the same language and somehow Arab culture with Kuwaitis. Same goes to the Bedoons, they are Arabs and share the same language, culture and even religion. So, priming on social level is somehow impossible because the keyword in here is Arabism and not national identity because Kuwait does not destruct any national identity that a specific nation has towards its own home country. But If we compare the same to the Armenian Genocide, Armenians were different from Ottomans religiously, socially, and culturally, so priming them were easier because they were “different” and Ottoman’s target were killing the national identity of Armenians before killing them physically. On political level, on the one hand expats do not take part in Kuwait’s politics so they cannot be primed and on the other hand, there are no specific laws in the constitution that deals with expats as a whole. On both religious and cultural level, no ethnic group in Kuwait is prohibited from practicing its religious or their cultural activities. The only difference can occur when it comes to economic differences, there is poverty in Kuwait, but it is not seen, and it does not mean that if something is not obvious then it’s not there. Many expats barely survive because of their limited income, so priming on economic scale might take place in Kuwait because usually if a person is economically stable than they can somehow adopt to the situation that they are being in but if not the there the problem really occurs. Overall, Lemkin’s ideas somehow contradict because in the case of Kuwait there are some things that might and might not take place purposely to affect a specific nation.
Genocide takes place in the form of a process. It does not start with the action of mass killing itself, instead it starts with acts of discrimination, racism and violence, involving series of planning and plotting. It comprises of coordinated plans and strategies aiming at the destruction of an ethnic group. According to Raphael Lemkin, the techniques of genocide represent a concentrated and coordinated attack upon all elements of nationhood. The victims, mainly Bidun and expatriates, would be primed for genocide in less extreme ways than those described by Lemkin, considering the ‘Germanization’ of several occupied countries. In terms of the ‘political’ element, the Bidun and expatriates are deprived of various privileges provided to Kuwaitis. The Bidun may be displaced from their ‘homes’ to far off places with little or no compensation. They have no voting rights and cannot enroll for elections nor be members of political parties. Thus they have no political status. They are not considered in policy making and the courts favor the Kuwaitis as they have legal privileges over Biduns and certain expatriates who are easier to suppress legally and economically. The new laws relating to expatriates show a degree of intolerance. The ‘social’ element would comprise the Biduns total negligence in societal and financial affairs. They are sometimes discriminated on the basis of names. Most are deprived of education and jobs. Most importantly they have no sense of belongingness as they aren’t provided with nationality and they cannot even be deported. They are allowed to remain but not without being exploited in terms of basic rights. If a Kuwaiti woman is married to a Bidun, she cannot pass on the nationality to the children. The Kuwaiti system of law and order is imposed on them in a more non-flexible manner. The Kuwaitis often receive partiality in the courts. The Bidun are placed at the bottom of the socio-economic classification. In terms of the ‘cultural’ element, there is a linguistic barrier that creates difficulties to operate at the work place, and this is one reason many competent expatriates are not given positions easily. There is limited freedom to hold cultural rituals and practices especially in public which is not an issue for Kuwaitis. The simple actions of discrimination and the concept of ‘the other’ may gradually lead to greater steps of priming the populations for genocide. The practice of Kuwaiti culture with freedom and condemn the same for ‘the others’ is reflective of perhaps some ethnocentric perspectives, intolerance and fear of negative influence. Domestic workers are required to follow dress codes. The ‘economic’ element may consist of the issues of employment, which is more or less an issue in Kuwait and the Bidun’s need for jobs is often ignored. Measures are being taken to replace expatriates to create opportunities for Kuwaitis. Their pay and salaries are much less compared to the Kuwaitis who receive greater financial support from other means. Moreover, since they are denied any property rights, low salaries make it difficult to meet increasing expenses of house rents, educational and medical services. The ‘biological’ and ‘physical’ elements are weakly applicable in terms of priming the victims for genocide in Kuwait. There have not been sterilization programs or deliberate attempts to reduce the birth rates of the expatriates (biological). However, marriage with expatriates is discouraged. In addition, births among Kuwaiti families are encouraged as they receive child subsidies and couples receive long term housing loans. Child delivery and better maternal provisions are free of cost for the citizens, however, highly expensive for the expatriates. The ‘physical’ component includes Kuwaitis receiving special medical treatment as compared to expatriates and the physical violence faced by the expatriate domestic workers. This may overlap with the ‘moral’ component. In terms of the ‘religious’ element, there is freedom of religion/ belief and no imposition of religious beliefs on people.
ReplyDeleteID:45792
ReplyDeleteGenocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation. It is a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundation of live of national groups with the aim of annihilating them. There are techniques of genocide in various fields which the German occupants have developed in the various occupied countries as a coordinated attack upon all elements of national hood. If these techniques where to be applied to the Bedoun in Kuwait, politically they would preventing them from having the same special privileges as the ones with Kuwaiti nationality like free health care, free education, allowing them to get married, own property, give them better protection during emergency, if they owned a land it would be taken away from them and given to a Kuwaiti citizen, and better opportunities in the field of employment, and supervising enterprises of local inhabitants. Socially, not allowing them to participate in the annual elections, which can be considered an attack on the intelligentsia who might be able to provide national leadership and organize resistance. I’m not sure if they can deport the Bedoun intelligentsia though. Culturally, they might force them to stop using their own language or accent in schools or in printing. Limiting their chances of studying in universities, or not giving them a scholarship. Not allowing them to participate in artistic activities such as painting, music, theater, literature unless they have a license. Depriving them from the inspiration from existing cultural and artistic values, destroying universities or museums built for them, for instance. Economically, lowering the standard of living to create difficulties in fulfilling cultural spiritual requirements, and because of the daily struggle to survive it may handicap thinking in both general and national terms, by not offering jobs for them, increasing the prices, and capturing anyone suspicious of begging people for money. Biologically, not allowing them to get married to decrease the birthrate, and if they gave birth, they can’t register their child’s name. while encouraging Kuwaitis to increase their birthrate, by giving the men certain amount of money for Maher, and incase they gave birth, giving their children free healthcare, education, and a family card provides them with discounts when shopping for groceries. Physically, either by racial discrimination in feeding during emergencies by providing Kuwaitis first with a bigger amount of food, endangering health, by not providing them with health care, or infecting them with incurable disease, or mass killing. Religiously, disrupting the Bedoun religious activates if they are not Muslims, and arresting the Bedoun for doing suspicious religious activates. Morally, giving low payed jobs, increasing the prices, might force them to commit crimes, rope, sell drugs even killing. Not allowing them to get married might lead to rape, sex outside of marriage. Not allowing them to own a license or a car, might lead to stealing cars, or driving without a license. By attempting to create an atmosphere of moral dismastment within the Bedoun, it weakens the spiritual resistance of the national group.
The group that I believe are most prone to genocide in Kuwait is the non-Arab workers such as the Indians, Bengalis, Pilipino and so on. In the political sense, immigrant workers don’t get the same privileges and favors that Kuwaitis enjoy. This could be seen in the employment sector and through health care benefits; foreign workers have very limited options of places to work in and they have to pay a lot for health related facilities and even then they are not taken care of as well as the nationals. When non-Kuwaitis marry Kuwaitis they are given the option to apply for the Kuwaiti citizenship and passport. This act demotes the non-Kuwaiti’s origins as becoming Kuwaiti would increase privileges to the foreigner, ones they wouldn’t have by being anything else, and so more people would start wanting to give up their original passport for the Kuwaiti one. Moreover, immigrant workers don’t have a voice in the conferences and meetings regarding the politics of Kuwait. Even though this could be viewed as how things should be, I think that by considering the large numbers of foreigners living in Kuwait and how speaking up is very difficult for them at least one representative on the council would be beneficial. Lastly, despite the fact that there are a few laws put in place to protect those workers and for the continuation of ensuring their basic human rights are sustained, they are not always followed or applied.
ReplyDeleteAs for the social aspect that could be priming worker to experience genocide, there is one thing that Lemkin focused on the social part, and that is the discrimination that Indian, and such workers, face in courts. The Kuwaiti law is strictly enforced on the low class laborers but is loosened when it comes to Kuwaitis. This could weaken the workers in the spiritual sense as they feel like they are set apart as they are most likely to be the ones seen guilty instead of a Kuwaiti in the case of a car accident, for instance. Culturally, foreigner’s traditions and ways of living are not forbidden to be practiced but they are not openly displayed or accepted; there are only Kuwaiti plays on stage but never an Indian or a Pilipino one. There are museums for Kuwaitis history and culture but not one for Bengalis. The language of the workers is not banned from the people’s mouths but at the same time it is not made easy for them to talk with Kuwaitis; they have to communicate through the Arabic language, and that is especially seen in governmental places, instead of English which is a second language to most of the residents in Kuwait. Language can cause a huge sense of alienation amongst the non-Arab nationalities and could make them feel inferior and even stupid as they are not able to speak the local tongue.
Moving on to the economic priming, non-Kuwaiti workers are generally paid less than Kuwaitis and they have a low standard of living. Employment does not come easy for them as the priority is given to Kuwaiti nationality employees, regardless of whether they actually have better qualification, and so they don’t get as many job opportunities. Foreign laborers are most likely to end up in low standard jobs such as drivers, maids, waiters, and so on. In the cases where nationalities other than Kuwaitis are able to land a good job, they would have had to work extremely hard to obtain the position and even then, not all of them make it to the top. This economic struggle could diminish their cultural spirit as they wouldn’t have enough time or money to build and cherish their culture, for example, they would not be financially able to host Bengali/Indian/… weddings. Moving on, the only relevant point to Kuwait’s hypothetical situation I found while reading Lemkin’s perspective on the physical destruction of a nation is the endangerment of health. The workers are placed in work conditions that carry a high possibility of them being harmed, such as working under the scorching heat of Kuwait’s sun for hours. They are also handed difficult tasks that Kuwaitis do not wish to do themselves such as hauling brick or dirt from one place to another. In the moral sense, many Kuwaitis are found to be degrading immigrant workers whether that be in the way they look at them, speak to them or treat them and they mainly only hire them for poorly paying jobs such as maids, garbage men, car washers etc.
DeleteIn Kuwait’s case, the building up of immigrant laborers to face genocide is not very severe as it is not carried out in all of the aspects in which Raphael Lemkin covers, such as the biological and religious priming. Sterilizations and other means of disabling the foreigner’s continuation of producing offspring are not carried out and they are free to practice any religion they wish and they are not openly discriminated about it. Even in some areas it is not strongly present or apparent as Kuwait does initiate mass killings against Indians, Pilipino, Sri Lankans and such people.
Genocide is a process. It involves several stages that lead up to it rather than happen overnight. Most commonly this happens for social or political reasons. There is a lot of prejudice and discrimination involved in the process that play a major role. In my last post, I explained how Indians typically have their lives more difficult than other nationalities in Kuwait. There are so many domestic workers and low-class Indians who are seen as inferior to society. On top of that, the law does not often side with them and the government would obviously favor Kuwaiti people if they had to decide between the two in many cases. Because of this, I believe that Indians in Kuwait are subtly being primed to be a target of violence in the country. In order to be primed for such a thing however, people would have to co-ordinate a way that would eventually lead to genocide. From an economic point of view, many Indians are judged although not likely vulnerable to economic priming since removing them out of this picture would only let Kuwait lose a major number of domestic workers that it needs. This and the fact that there are a few Indians working in a professional setting, like in offices, suggests that any sort priming would not lead very far. They are needed and do a lot for the country, however, they are unfortunately nevertheless still discriminated against quite often. Considering what I’ve already mentioned, it already sounds like Kuwait has some issues in terms of what is morally right and wrong. It appears as if people are aware if they have done something wrong although choose not to admit it. It is the same reason why things like bringing in alcohol in the country is something that regularly happens but kept under the radar. Interestingly enough, there are many more Indians than Kuwaitis who do this. Instead of reporting them, people typically take advantage of this, regardless of nationality. Perhaps the biggest issue Indians have in Kuwait is how little freedom they have. There are rarely ever any opportunities for self-expression, especially regarding their culture. How often do we see an Indian band playing music or Indian leader in the workplace? They exist yes but too rarely. This is how their self-expression is banned. Kuwaitis have taken advantage of how the law labels everyone through subtlety and prejudice. While I would say that there is no sign or it is unlikely that these priming techniques are inevitable and will ultimately lead to genocide, it is also important to note that it is a process. I personally don’t believe we are in danger although understanding our mistakes and approaches can help us in the long run.
ReplyDeleteLemkin’s reading pointed out impositions and how certain victimized groups of people are targeted. With this comes ethnic destruction or oppression. Because genocide must be understood as a process with different factors and diverse outcomes, genocidal priming involves the prepping for genocide. Such priming can be applied to the Bidoun through political, social, cultural, economic, biological, physical, religious, and moral techniques. Genocidal priming can’t be confused with the trigger. The trigger could be a Bidoun killing a Kuwaiti. That last moment of action doesn’t explain how that person’s identity comes to represent the actions of the whole. The Bidoun have been primed as a whole. Here, I demonstrate how the techniques of genocide play out in the group I assigned as the most probable or vulnerable in Kuwait for genocide.
ReplyDeletePolitically, they are defined by their status as illegal citizens and are not counted as part of the nation. Thus, the nation is the unified identity. This means something about the Bidoun as they are considered a group that has a unifying identity in common, which is being state-less. All the machinations of the state, the leadership, the legislative branch, the judicial branch, all the ministries and the bureaucracy of the state places its emphasis on national identity which does not include the Bidoun. Since 1986, their status has shifted to illegal residents and identification documents like passports, civil IDs, and a driver’s license were no longer issued for them. They used to represent the country in more ways than one, especially as part of the military. Now, they are viewed as a group that is unworthy of legal privileges and status, cannot vote, and are politically underrepresented.
Socially and culturally, they are completely discriminated against. They live in social exclusion and their lives are a daily struggle trying to make it through social stigmas, hatred, and mistreatment. Simply because they are Bidoun, they are viewed as ‘less-than’ and their basic humanitarian rights are taken away from them. No education, housing, or job opportunities are provided for them. They are not allowed to vote, and are not free to express themselves as it will most likely cause backlash from the public.
Economically, they represent the lower socio-economic class and are basically living in slums. This also comes to show the physical factor that comes to play, as the Bidoun are ghettoized. They are primed for genocides as they are specialized and isolated to certain areas and neighborhoods in Kuwait. Usually these areas are far away, as they live in exclusion. If they were to get jobs, they wouldn’t be paid what they deserve and are most likely exploited. This hinders their chances of economically advancing.
Biologically, there is a denial of medical care. I honestly am not sure if this is an intentional way of preventing the group to reproduce itself, but it’s definitely there. Religiously, everyone is free to practice their own beliefs and religion. However, if this factor is understood in terms of morale, I do believe that Kuwaitis are hostile towards Bidoun and somewhat see them as fundamentally evil. As for morally, everything that was previously mentioned applies in this hypothetical situation which in itself is immoral.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteS00028891
ReplyDeleteRaphael Lemkin highlights eight important categories that can be used or considered when priming certain populations. Within the Political element, In Kuwait, some expats are not given equal rights in comparison to the rest of expat community. Furthermore, certain nationalities among expats are treated differently for example, Americans and Europeans stereo-typically would be treated differently from others even though they are considered as expats as well, however they are still more privileged due to their nationality. Then comes Arabs, ranking from the most favored nationality to the least favored and then comes the southeast Asians. Thus, many of the expats are discriminated against politically due to their nationality.
Expats can also be violently attacked, verbally due to their social class or where they stand socially, some Kuwaiti’s often use the phrase “I will deport you” and that's due to the authority some Kuwaiti’s have due to their social class or family name or even position they have in the society. Thus, the fear some expats have or the threats they can face on their daily lives can affect them physically and mentally.
The cultural stereotype that some expatriates carry, prime these groups to violence, for example, a lot of individuals believe that Indians are “stupid” or “uneducated” or work as domestic workers and are undermined due to their ethnicity. Another example would be the misconception and association of Ethiopian housekeepers as being murderers due to a few incidents that occurred several years ago; when one housekeeper killed her employer. And so, Ethiopians are burdened with this stereotype and that affects them economically and limits them to having job opportunities in Kuwait because they are the least favored among housekeepers.
Most groups that are targeted for their physical appearance are those from India, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Philippines etc., precisely domestic workers. Some individuals face racism by being labeled as slaves. There were a lot of incidents where domestic workers were abused and called out for their skin tone, hair texture and scent etc.
Religiously, some expats especially the Southeast Asians, are not allowed to express their beliefs and religion freely, such as Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists. They are bound to be mocked at or humiliated which is considered as emotional violence. Based on observations, some families force their non-Muslim housekeepers to wear the Hijab to “respect” the man of the household. Furthermore, they are being violently targeted morally and religiously.
Sadly, a number of Kuwaitis discriminate against expats especially against those who are domestic because they believe that they are the superiors and expats are the inferiors. Moreover, a lot of their rights are being violated and in different ways due to the elements that Lemkin categorizes for genocide.
Raphael Lemkin coined the term “genocide” as a modern phenomenon to explain the occurrences and events of the holocaust. In chapter 1, Lemkin defines genocide as “the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group”, not necessarily done in an immediate way, but possibly a coordinated plan that aims to destruct and annihilate certain groups within a nation. These acts may involve stripping them from their basic human rights, deprive them from property rights, health care facilities, personal security etc. Genocide is an ongoing process of a recurring patterns of discrimination against the oppressed.
ReplyDeleteVulnerable populations in Kuwait such as the “Bidun”; A little over 100,000 stateless persons in Kuwait in which authorities claim are illegal residents who destroyed evidence of their nationalities to receive Kuwaiti benefits. Many “Bidun” do not have registered residencies, driver licenses, and citizenships.
What it means to be Kuwaiti is embedded in its history; division of labor and family tribes. National groups were formed based on their input in benefiting political, social, economic and religious morals of the country. In this case, any threat to Kuwaiti nationalism will be deemed as a criminal act, which may lead to restrictions from authorities, banning them the access of education, proper career choices, cultural involvement, and social/economic public events.
While Kuwaiti citizens live fairly wealthy and comfortable lives, Bidun are left at the outskirts of the city, living under harsher conditions. Since 1961, when Kuwait became independent, government officials have failed to find solutions. This led to a rage buildup among Bidun leading to protests and violent outbursts. These exact incidents can be seen as a process of essentializing, minimizing, and causing physical and mental harm to members of a targeted group.
S00033978
In my point of view, the Bidoun are being primed in many categories. The techniques of genocide as outlined by Raphael Lemkin applies on the Bidoon. As Lemkin states the destruction of an ethnic group happens step by step. The Bidoon In Kuwait is more qualified than other groups and has elements. Political members of the parliament are giving hate speeches about how the Bidoon is a burden to Kuwait. Also, as known in the world that Kuwait is a country of peace, the Bidoon issue plays with this reputation, so in other words, the Bidoon issue is a burden on Kuwait’s reputation. Moreover, socially the Bidoon isnt accepted in many social groups. They hold this stigma about them, they live in Sulaibya, and are not allowed to live elsewhere, most of them arent allowed to go to schools, they don’t have marriage document, suitable ID, which makes them trapped, they are also viewed as illegal residents. They might be viewed as an economical threat, hey don’t live in a comfortable life, like the Kuwaitis does. Infact they don’t live comfortable at all. They are banned from schools, and doesn’t have the right to work, nor even accepted in jobs, which makes no to little money for them to live. Also, they might be seen as a cultural threat because as told that many come from different countries (cultures) In Kuwait, they are not banned to practice there cultures, but in the Bidoun case, they don’t have the freedom nor the basic needs to have the right to even share the culture. That’s even rare, because most Bidoun share the same culture. They are cut from having marriage documents, so this might be viewed as a way of cutting them biologically. There are no Religious and Moral elements regarding the Bidoun because whats happening to them is religiously and morally wrong. As I have mentioned before, in the “Pyramid of Hate” I would rank Bedoun in higher level 3. They are stereotyped, dehumanized and discriminated. They are also increasing in numbers, so, all these factors result’s in chaos(violence). As I see it they are only one level behind Genocide. Especially that the issue has been for years, and no solution worked.
ReplyDeleteNasser 43793
(part 1)In his work, Raphael Lemkin discusses how the state may infringe upon minority groups in an effort to weaken those national identities within the state, priming those populations for escalating maltreatment to the level of genocide gradually in order to successfully remove those groups and their respective nationhood from inside its borders. This works to consolidate a justified narrative for the majority and to reduce the capacity of the minorities to resist infringing acts from the state. This priming was broken down into various categories which I will touch on in the following as they regard Kuwait.
ReplyDeleteThe political aspect of priming for genocide includes the inability of minorities to participate in political processes affecting their presence in the state- Bedoun, South Asians, etc. cannot vote in representative democratic processes which ultimately decide/affect the regulation of their population. Furthermore, these groups cannot/have limited access to discussions in diwaniyas as well as informal political involvement (wasta).
On a social level, stigmatization through stereotyping and otherwise disrespectful treatment occurs. Stigmas (such as South Asians being smelly, or Africans being uncivilized) produce a social distance between the majority and minority groups, making it so that nationals’ sympathy or acceptance of those groups is stigmatized as well (this is mostly from the transitive property of stigma, contact with stigmatized groups produces a stigma for the person in contact with the group). This stigma exists at a much lesser degree than the one against the minority, but has big implications such as social barriers for interracial friendships and marriages with minoritized groups. The aforementioned stigmatization ties into the cultural priming, where minority groups are ridiculed in media consumed by nationals that reinforcing stereotypes and economic statuses imposed on the minority population. stigmatization of minority allows nationals to feel that intensified maltreatment of minority groups is justified, or simply creates general indifference to the plight of minority groups. This cultural and social priming has rather interesting results in Kuwait, one of which that I find particularly disturbing is the use of nationality terms as insults among Kuwaitis (Hindi, Bangali, Sa’eedi) that typically denote stupidity.
The aforementioned stigmas do not exist in isolation, and one of the biggest ties between them are the economic priming strategies. These include barriers in place regulating participation in state’s economy or the maintenance of an informal economic foundation within the group. This includes the allocation of service-level or less lucrative employment positions (security, janitorial/ cleaning, taxi/delivery/transport services, cooking and waiting and some managerial positions in restaurants).
Biological tactics of priming target minority population size, which would include reduced birth rates (e.g. through the separation of males and females, increased infant mortality rates, restrictions on marriage, etc.)
(continued in separate post)
(part 2) The physical element in Lemkin’s work pertains to both the spatial arrangement and physical personal treatment of minority groups in a state. Examples in Kuwait include: deportation (especially without following official protocols, but also the increase in deportation recently); ghettoization, the allocation of poorly managed and underfunded areas away from the view of nationals which results in increased influence of informal actors (e.g. gangs) in those areas; increased police harassment (increased stops of transport vehicles for example), as well as demeaning/disrespectful treatment in police stations, maintain unfair legal treatment and intimidation from the state’s civil enforcers against the minority population; insufficient access to health care services (only 1 public hospital designated for expats if I remember correctly, and private options are economically unfeasible for target groups); and under-regulation of physical violence against minorities (My brother and I once saw a Kuwait man that appeared to be managing street sweepers smack one of the employees on the head, which is probably not legal but who’s telling?).
ReplyDeleteFalling somewhat under the physical infringements in Kuwait is the religious aspect of priming and attack on nationhood. Here, minority religions are limited from the public sphere to allocated areas- churches exist privately and discretely in residences apart from the ONE church that seems to be intended to accommodate all Christian denominations. We also have Criminalization of some practices as witchcraft (is polytheism also criminalized?)
The moral aspect of population priming involves reducing the target group’s capacity to unite against the state through nationhood, weakening the morale through reducing the lives of the target population to survival. This, of course, is largely related to the low economic standard that minority groups are kept at, as well as the limitation/reduced accessibility of media catering to those groups.
To conclude, these different aspects of priming populations to genocide work in tandem, ensuring maximal negative impacts and, when it reaches that point, successful eradication of the target minority group.
According to the United Nations definition, genocide requires the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. The intended action may be carried out not only by killing, but also through the following four acts:
ReplyDeletecausing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, and forcibly
transferring children of the group to another group. (United Nations 1948)
Furthermore, the attempt to destroy, in whole or in part, such a group constitutes genocide. Thus, an attempted genocide is a genocide, just as an attempt to destroy a part of such a group is genocide. Genocide need not be seen through to its desired conclusion to be considered as such, and the short-term attempt to cause the direct physical death of victims is only one of five possible actions which constitute genocide.
Raphael Lemkin, the man behind the creation and adoption of the Convention, himself employed a very broad definition of genocide (including aspects such as 'moral debasement' related to what Lemkin called 'cheap individual pleasure')—remnants of which remain in the Convention’s wording (Lemkin 2005). Lemkin’s understanding of his own concept changed over time, and the inherently politicized nature of the Convention’s wording ensured that it did not represent his foundational perspective unmodified, but what is clear is that neither Lemkin himself, nor the Convention, defined death or killing as a necessary aspect of genocide (see Moses 2010b). Amongst genocide studies scholars, it is now broadly recognized that genocide need not involve mass killing or mass death—although this is not always true for contemporary scholars who are not genocide experts, and nor was it necessarily the case for an earlier generation of genocide specialists, which may explain the significant discrepancy in the definition of genocide adopted in scholarly debates. However, the commentary around preserving conservative values was just a mask covering uglier, older forms of social gatekeeping.
52830